


Passing of Time

by goblynn



Category: Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-22
Updated: 2013-04-22
Packaged: 2017-12-09 05:08:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/770316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goblynn/pseuds/goblynn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Snow White makes a decision about the future of her kingdom.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Passing of Time

**Author's Note:**

> A one-shot written shortly after the film's release, finally liberated from my desktop. The ambiguous ending drove me crazy--I had to write a fix-it, short as it may be. :)

Her reign lasted two years.

 

~*~*~

 

Year the first:

 

She was inexperienced and untaught in matters of ruling a people. Yet—

 

She did not cower. She questioned. She sought direction. She called upon what men remained of her father’s most-trusted advisors. She exchanged correspondence with William, and with his father. She prayed.

 

She called upon the huntsman. Tongues wagged, and were suddenly and unremorsefully silenced by quiet, scarred women. ‘You do not know what she endured,’ they said, ‘you do not understand what he guided her through. They are each honorable.’

 

The kingdom began to recover.

 

~*~*~

 

Year the second:

 

She opened herself to the people. She walked among them. She oversaw harvests unlike any they’d seen in more than a decade. The land was ripe, the people full and happy. They celebrated.

 

She thought.

 

The kingdom required her marriage; it would someday need an heir.

 

She ordered a hunt.

 

~*~*~

 

The encampment surrounded her pavilion. The horses were brought to her as she requested them, dozens of people accompanying her each time she thought to venture into the forest or into the fields.

 

The huntsman did not join them.

 

After several days, she ordered a guard to have the huntsman brought to her.

 

He entered silently; she dismissed the guard.

 

“How may I serve you, princess?” He towered over her.

 

She smiled. “Must I remind you again that I am your queen?”

 

His eyes crinkled at the corners. “No, my lady.”

 

She turned her back. “Sit, please.”

 

He sat near her feet.

 

“I want to go away.”

 

He frowned. “To where?”

 

“To hunt.”

 

“You already have, my lady.”

 

“This is not a hunt. You know this better than any of us.”

 

He snorted. “Anything worth hunting has long since run far from this place.”

 

“Which is why I want you to take me away from here.”

 

He frowned more deeply. “I cannot.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Prin—my lady, you are the _queen_. If you were to go alone into the forest, with only me—a huntsman—at your side, it would be…”

 

“Unseemly?”

 

“That is one way of naming it.”

 

She stared down at him. “But you are the only one I trust.”

 

~*~*~

 

There was an uproar at her announcement. Everyone, she stated, was to remain where they were, as she and the huntsman would return by nightfall on the next day. They had sufficient provisions and three horses; there would be no need for further assistance. The huntsman had protected her in more dire places; she needed no further escort. The head of the queen’s guard was dismissed, his protests still heard as he was shepherded away by his men.

 

She rode away in the light of late afternoon, following the huntsman’s horse into the tall grasses and trees. They rode until nightfall, seeing only a few rabbits and squirrels for their trouble.

 

“Has everything left this country?”

 

He called back to her over his shoulder. “No, my lady; it only hides.”

 

“Do you think we will have better fortune, tomorrow?”

 

He nodded. “We ought to make camp. There will be little moonlight, tonight.”

 

She followed him to a small clearing, waiting with the horses as he struggled with another, smaller pavilion.

 

“Leave it.”

 

He looked at her.

 

“Leave it. I don’t need it. I can sleep outside—on the ground, the same as you.”

 

He laughed.

 

She didn’t.

 

He grew quiet, then dropped the heavy bundle of cloth. “As you wish, my lady.”

 

She frowned. “Please, stop.”

 

“What, my lady?”

 

“That. Calling me ‘my lady’ at every turn. I’m Snow White. I’m y—the—princess.”

 

“No, my lady. You’re the queen.”

 

She bit her tongue.

 

He turned away.

 

~*~*~

 

The horses were tethered among the trees, nearby. She could hear their low whinnies as they settled in for the night. The fire crackled; she looked through the flames and could see the huntsman lying on his bedroll, staring up at the stars.

 

“I must marry.”

 

He almost looked to flinch at her words.

 

“The kingdom will require an heir.” She paused. “It would be preferable that I have several children, in case some evil were to befall the eldest.”

 

He did not look at her. “It is to be William, then.”

 

She furrowed her brow. “I have not said it was so.”

 

He turned, his face cast in golden light. “It must be.”

 

“And why must it?”

 

“He is your equal, my lady.”

 

“He is not my choice.”

 

They both fell silent, looking at one another through the firelight.

 

“Come to me.” Her words could barely be heard over the popping and hissing of the burning wood.

 

“My lady—”

 

“My Christian name is Snow White. Please.”

 

“Snow White…I would not make you the subject of idle gossip.”

 

She smiled. “I do not think the horses are capable of carrying tales other than their own.”

 

He laughed, then.

 

“Please.” She shifted on her bedroll, making space for another.

 

He watched her, eyes guarded.

 

“Huntsman.”

 

He rose, coming around the fire and kneeling at her side. “My Christian name is Eric.”

 

She lifted the thin blanket covering her. “Eric.”

 

~*~*~

 

She lay against him, her back to his front, one of his arms wrapped around her. They had not talked further; he had pulled her against his body and they had drifted to sleep.

 

Now, in the gray mist of morning, she wondered if he’d understood what she was trying to say.

 

She turned slowly under the weight of him, looking up at his face. It was slack and soft, sleep relaxing him. She touched her fingers against the roughness of his beard, traced the arch of his brows and the bow of his lip.

 

His eyes opened.

 

She shifted again, and his knee slipped between her legs.

 

He started to pull away.

 

“Don’t.”

 

“My lady…”

 

She didn’t speak.

 

“Snow White—do not ask this of me.”

 

She faltered.

 

“I am an honorable man—it has not always been so, but—I will not cuckold another.”

 

“Cuckold?”

 

He would not meet her eyes.

 

“Huntsman.” He began again to pull away. She laid a hand against his chest. “Eric.”

 

He stopped.

 

“I would never ask that of you.” Her hand slid up his chest, over worn linen and the warm flesh of his throat, palming his cheek. “Nor would I cuckold _you_ with another.”

 

He looked at her, something earnest in his gaze.

 

“I have refused William, and I have refused him because of you.” She searched his eyes. “I have refused _all_ others because of you.”

 

He kissed her.

 

~*~*~

 

His hands were under her shift, sliding over curves she’d acquired since becoming queen (a better diet coming with crown and kingdom); she was still small of frame, but softer, less angular. He admired her legs, and she laughed in the dim morning light as he compared her to a lithe, well-fed hind. He stopped her laughs with kisses, and they covered themselves with the blanket, shielding their explorations from the sun.

 

She stopped him, breathless and full-lipped. “I cannot. There will be questions if—”

 

He kissed the pale skin between her breasts. “I know, my lady.” His lips wandered to her throat. “I am a patient man.” His hands drifted, brushing against her belly. “But not so very patient.”

 

She laughed, again.

 

~*~*~

 

They killed a stag in the afternoon. She asked him to kill it for her; she had no taste for the act.

 

He dressed it while they were yet a-field, draping the carcass across the back of the spare horse.

 

“There will be talk, Snow White.”

 

“Let them talk.” She tied down the last of her supplies. “I lived as a prisoner for most of my life. I will not live in that manner, again.”

 

He did not question her further on the subject.

 

~*~*~

 

They married in the spring. The apple trees were heavy with blossoms, their fragrance carried on the newly-cut boughs decorating the chapel. Snow White wore her mother’s gown, her face hidden behind a lace veil carefully wrought with red roses.

 

They recited vows; they knelt—the bishop crowned her husband—they rose; one kiss was exchanged, and their names were recorded. The marriage ceremony was complete.

 

The kingdom celebrated into the wee hours.

 

The queen and her husband retired long before any others.

 

~*~*~

 

The kingdom prospered.

 

She bore children, both girls and boys, and filled the castle with happiness and promise.

 

_Their_ reign lasted many years.


End file.
